Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
Chapter Six: Camilla's Envy
Backstreet of Magnolia
Erza didn't waste any time in charging the demon in front of her, her swords dancing and spinning around her. "Take this, Demon! Circle Sword!"
"Erza, don't!" Gray shouted as Envy looked at her with her putrid yellow eyes. "She'll just steal your magic!"
Indeed, as Envy's eyes became fixed on Erza, her demonic power went into effect. Erza saw her own armor being donned by the girl and realized she was standing in the street naked. "But how?" she gaped when she saw that all of her swords were gone. "Even if she stole my powers, my physical weapons should still be here." It was then that she looked down at herself and realized she was standing in the street naked. "Oh my god!"
"Here," Gray said as he ran up beside her. He tossed her his coat before charging at the girl himself, having gotten a grasp on her powers. "She can't steal more than one powers." He put his fist into his hand and thankfully felt the cold burst of magic flow through him. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!"
A giant sword of ice appeared and Gray slashed at Envy, meaning to bifurcate the demon. The girl merely smiled wickedly before her eyes flickered to the right. She brought up her hand and…sent a blast of fire at him. Gray gasped before summoning an ice shield to defend himself…and then realized that his shield vanished.
Erza summoned another sword and Natsu's fists fired up as they charged at the girl. However, Envy's Magic Stealing power was instantaneous. The three Wizards, the strongest team in Fairy Tail, soon found themselves at a severe disadvantage. Even with their incredible skills, the moment Envy turned her eyes on one of them she would steal their magic, then quickly steal another attacker's magic and retaliate before they realized she'd made a switch of their powers.
Erza caught Natsu as he was sent flying thanks to a wave of ice. "This is bad," she said, sweat running down her face. "We need a new strategy. We're not going to win this by hitting her harder."
"Erza…" Natsu panted, "Do not turn this into a learning moment."
"She's right," Gray said as he jumped back. "We should retreat and get back to the guild."
"Don't bother…."
The three turned to see Envy stalking her way towards them, draped in Erza's armor. "None of you will be leaving here alive. Pride wants all you guild members dead."
Erza's eyes narrowed. "You're targeting the guilds?"
"Yes." Envy came to a stop as she summoned more of Erza's sword, all their sharp points aimed at the helpless three Wizards. "Pride says you guilds keep interfering change in the world. So our first step to finding the Tree of Life is to eliminate anyone who's a threat. Wrath is also on the warpath." She gve the three an evil smile as she finished summoning swords. Two hundred and fifty swords were pointed at Natsu, Erza and Gray. "Be glad it's me killing you and not Wrath. He's the cruel one of the bunch," she said with a mirthless smile.
All three Wizards gulped as the swords lunged at them….
Meanwhile….
Fairy Tail Guildhall
Cana and Mira were standing out outside the guild, waiting on messages from the other guilds. They'd already been informed that Sabretooth and Mermaid Heel were already on their way to meet up with them. However, they'd heard no word yet from Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus or Blue Pegasus.
Cana's ears perked up as she listened to the sounds of the quiet town. "Am I the only one who heard that?"
Mirajane frowned. "I did. This isn't good. What if the Seven Deadly Sins are here?" She turned to the busy guildhall which had almost all of the members of Fairy Tail inside. "Lucy and her team are out right now."
"Yeah. We should swing by Lucy's house and-"
"CANA! MIRA!"
The women looked up to see a familiar flying blue cat swoop down, carrying an injured Lucy. "Lucy!" Mirajane shouted as Happy gently set her down. She saw the cast of ice on her foot and the cut on her shoulder and knew she had been in real trouble. "What happened?"
"I'll go get Wendy," Cana said, rushing back into the guildhall.
"It was one of the Seven, Envy!" Happy quickly said. "She took Lucy's magic and attacked her with one of her celestial spirts! Natsu, Gray and Erza are fighting her right now!"
Cana returned with Wendy, Elfman, Levy and Gajeel. The small Dragon Slayer quickly went to work in healing Lucy's leg. "Natsu and the others are fighting?" Elfman asked. "We need to help them!"
"I'm heading back there now, follow me!" Happy said as he took to the air.
"Wait!"
The blue cat turned to see Lucy staring at him with a determined look on her face. "What is it, Lucy?"
"I think I know what her weakness is."
"Gray already figured it out! She can't steal more than one person's magic," Happy pointed out.
"That's not her weakness. She can steal a person's magic the moment she turns her eyes towards somebody. It's so instantaneous I didn't even realized I'd lost my magic." Her brow furrowed as she came to a realization. "But I think I know what her power's Achilles heel is. You need to go and tell Natsu and Erza!"
As soon as Lucy revealed Envy's weakness, Happy took off to help the trio as fast as he could, Elfman and Gajeel not far behind….
Unbeknownst to everyone though, another person was present, hiding in the shadow of a nearby alleyway. "Very clever, cutie," Lust said as her sinful eyes stared at the wounded blonde. "Hmm…what to do about you…."
Meanwhile….
Natsu, Erza & Gray Vs. Envy
"Raahhhhhh!" Natsu shouted as he sent a wave of fire at Envy. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Ice Make: Shield."
The pink-haired boy cursed as Envy protected herself with Gray's shield. Erza appeared behind her and swung a sword at her neck, only to jump back when pillars of ice shot out of the ground. "Damn! She's not letting up."
"So weak…" Envy said as she turned her gaze towards Erza, the redhead's magical sword appearing in Envy's hand. "So fragile…that's what you Wizards are."
"Enough!" Natsu shouted as he lunged at Envy again, his fists ablaze. "Fire Dragon's-"
Envy shut up Natsu by hurling Erza's sword at him, the metal blade piercing his shoulder. Natsu cried out in pain as he was nailed to the wall, blood pouring down his shoulder. "Natsu, you idiot!" Gray said as he ran up beside him. "You keep charging in and she's just going to keep hitting you with our magic."
Natsu grimaced as Gray pulled the sword out of his shoulder, staggering as Erza joined them. "This is bad. What do we do?" he asked, afraid of dying at the hands of this little demon. "She's gonna pulverize us!"
Erza scowled as Envy slowly advanced on them, her black dress being replaced once again with her Heaven's Wheel armor. "We need to run. We can't fight her like this. We need to regroup and figure out a-"
"I don't think so."
The three whirled around to see Envy directly behind them, swords in her tiny hands. The three jumped back as she attacked them, the girl keeping the three fighters on their toes.
"How does she keep appearing behind us?!" Erza said, jumping onto a shop rooftop to catch her breath. She watched as Gray summoned a cannon and shot a cannonball of ice at Envy only for the girl to deflect it with Erza's swords. "No child could do that. She's not just absorbing our magic and resistances. She's taking our physical prowess too!"
"Erza!"
The Armored Wizard whirled around to see Happy flying towards her. "Happy! What are you doing back here?" she demanded. "This isn't a safe place for you right now!"
"This isn't a safe place for anyone, Erza," came Envy's voice from behind.
When Happy saw Envy take a swing at Erza he shot towards his friend with all his might. "Maximum Acceleration!" He managed to scoop Erza and take to the air, saving her from a deathblow…before he fell out of the sky as soon as Envy looked at him. "Ahhhh!" both he and Erza screamed before hitting the pavement. Luckily Erza broke his fall and held him in her arms. "Erza!" he shouted as he regained focus.
"Happy, what are you doing here? Where's Lucy?"
"She's with the others. Listen! Lucy's figured out her weakness!"
Meanwhile, Gray was busy avoiding arrows of ice shot towards him, ducking into an alley as Envy chased him. 'If I can steer her away from the others then maybe I can buy Erza some time to get the others.'
Natsu saw Gray run off with Envy in hot pursuit and moved to follow him. "What is that idiot doing?!" He started to run but was cut off when Erza stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Erza!"
"Wait, Natsu. I have an idea…."
Gray dodged another attack and ran into an abandoned train yard, hiding behind old, rusted traincars as ice rained death from above. He cursed as a shard of ice pierced his leg, making him stumble and fall to the ground. "Dammit!" he said, feeling the cold hit him. "I had no idea I was this strong!"
Envy appeared from out of nowhere on top of an old train engine, a lance of ice in her hands. She aimed it at Gray and smiled. "Small…weak…helpless…that's what you Wizards are."
"Why do you hate Wizards so much?" Gray shouted, hoping to stall the inevitable.
"You can't imagine what it's like; to be in a home of magic and not being able to do anything. I was lonely…I was hurt…." Envy's putrid eyes burned with sheer malice. "Well, I'm doing the hurting now. I will make every Wizard remember just how small and puny they really are." She hauled back and prepared to throw the lance. "Starting with you."
"Not yet, you're not!"
The two looked up to see Natsu swooping down from above, Happy carrying him with his Aera wings. "You're not hurting my friends any longer! Fire Dragon's-"
"Hmph…" Envy smiled as her gaze turned to Natsu, stealing his Dragon Slayer magic. "Fire Dragon's-"
"NOW!" Natsu shouted.
Clang!
The sound of rusted metal moving screeched across the train yard as Erza whacked the train engine Envy was standing on with a giant hammer, sending it careening down the rusted train tracks. Envy felt a wave of nausea as she suddenly became gripped by motion sickness. She covered her mouth as she threatened to throw up. "I don't feel good!"
"Gray! Blind her! NOW!" Erza shouted.
"Right!" With a wave of his hands, Gray created a band of ice and threw it at Envy. The band wrapped around her head and obscured her vision, keeping her blind and preventing her from stealing magic via sight.
"Get it off," Envy shrieked, trying to pull off the ice covering her eyes while at the same time trying hard not to hurl. She stood up on wobbly legs and again tried to pull the blinders off. Her struggle came to an end when Erza flew up with Happy and she plunged her sword into the demon's chest, piercing her heart.
Envy coughed up blood and staggered, falling off of the train as Erza pulled her sword out of her. The ice on her face crumbled as she hit the ground with a thud, dying.
"Damn it…" the girl groaned, the life draining from her. The three Wizards and Happy cautiously walked towards her, not knowing what other tricks she had up her sleeve. Envy tried to open her mouth to speak but only a gurgle left her lips, death closing in on her. As she lay dying the yellow in her eyes faded, revealing her beautiful violet eyes. 'I'm scared…' the little girl thought as she saw a bright light at the end of a tunnel. 'Mama, I'm scared….'
"Camilla…" came a voice from the light.
'Mama?' Camilla called out, recognizing her name. 'Mama! I'm so sorry! I-'
"It's alright, Camilla. You can let go now. Your sisters and I have been waiting for you. We can play with your dolls, just like you like.'
"Mama…" Envy called out with her final breaths, tears running down her face as her tiny body went cold. "Ma…ma…."
The four Fairy Tail wizards stood in silence as the little girl died, a smile on her face. "Well, we won…" Natsu glumly said.
Gray merely shook his head. "Then why doesn't it feel like a victory. She was just a little girl." He knew that they should be happy to have taken the Seven Deadly Sins down a member. But the fact that Envy was just a little girl, no older than Wendy, left a bad taste in his mouth. "How'd you figure out her weakness, Erza?"
"Lucy figured it out. She deduced that she not only steals a person's magic and their strengths, but their weaknesses as well. We should be fortunate that Natsu's power has such a blatant weakness." Erza moved closer to the girl's body and gave a sigh. "We should give her a proper burial. She may have been a demon but she died human. She deserves to be buried with respect. I-"
Erza's quick reflexes were the only thing that saved her and her friends. Sensing something up above, she looked up and saw something coming down on them. The redhead jumped backward, grabbing Natsu and Gray and pulling them away. The three watched in shock as Camilla's body was crushed beneath the attacker's foot, the train yard shaking from the impact.
The three stared up at what had attacker with eyes filled with both confusion and shock. "What…the…hell?" Erza gaped.
"Is that…what I think it is?" Gray asked, not believing what he was seeing.
"Ch-Ch-Chi-" Natsu stammered, his eyes swiveling as he tried to process the image in front of him. Finally, he said what they were all seeing. "GIANT CHICKEN!"
To be continued.